JP2014014985A - Job processing apparatus, job management method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To cause a job management apparatus to appropriately manage processing results of jobs received from the exterior by a job processing apparatus.SOLUTION: A printing apparatus serving a job processing apparatus stores processing results of jobs received from a job input apparatus in a nonvolatile memory. The printing apparatus determines whether the processing result, of which the job input apparatus has not been notified, is stored in the nonvolatile memory when it has returned from power shutdown. If there is a processing result of which the job input apparatus has not been notified, the printing apparatus notifies the job input apparatus of the processing result.

Description

  The present invention relates to a job processing apparatus, a job management method, and a program capable of notifying a job processing result.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a printing apparatus that executes a print job transmitted via a network or the Web and notifies the result to a transmission source or the like is known. On the other hand, if the transmission source obtains a print result indicating completion of printing from the printing apparatus that provided the print job, it can be determined that the print job can be discarded. However, in such a printing apparatus, if the power supply to the printing apparatus is interrupted during printing or after printing is finished, it is impossible to notify the printing result.

  In Patent Document 1, the processing state of a received print job is recorded in a nonvolatile memory, so that the presence or absence of an unprocessed print job can be confirmed by referring to the processing state of the print job when returning from power shutdown. Possible printing devices are described. Patent Document 1 describes that if there is an unprocessed print job, the transmission source of the print job is requested to retransmit the image data related to the print job.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-112722

  However, the reason why the processing status of a print job is recorded in the printing apparatus in Patent Document 1 is to enable the processing to be executed when there is an unprocessed print job. Therefore, as long as the print job is completed, the processing state record may be erased. Therefore, when notifying the result after the end of printing as described above, if the power is cut off after the end of printing and before the notification of the print result, the notification of the print result is not made even if the power is turned on later. Not done.

  On the other hand, the transmission source that waits for the processing result indicating the end of printing from the printing apparatus as described above and determines whether or not the print job can be discarded can be used to print the print job even though printing on the printing apparatus has ended. It will continue to hold.

  In view of the above, the present invention provides a job processing apparatus, a job management method, and a program capable of appropriately managing the processing result of a job received from the outside by the job processing apparatus using the job management apparatus. Objective.

  In order to solve the above problems, a job processing apparatus according to the present invention is a job processing apparatus capable of processing a job received from the outside and notifying a job management apparatus of a processing result of the job, the processing result of the job From the state in which communication with the job management apparatus is disabled to the communication enabled state, storage means for storing the information in the memory, notification means for notifying the job management apparatus of the processing result of the job stored in the memory by the storage means When there is a transition, a determination unit that determines whether there is a processing result of a job that has not been notified by the notification unit, and a determination unit that determines that there is a processing result of a job that has not been notified by the notification unit by the determination unit Control means for reading the processing result from the memory and notifying the job management apparatus by the notification means. To.

  According to the present invention, the job processing apparatus can appropriately manage the processing result of the job received from the outside by the job management apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a block configuration of a job input device and a printing device. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a procedure of print processing based on a print job. It is a figure which shows the procedure of the process which determines the job processing state at the time of power activation. It is a figure which shows the 1st management procedure of a job processing state. It is a figure which shows the 2nd management procedure of a job processing state. It is a figure which shows the 3rd management procedure of a job processing state.

  Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following embodiments do not limit the present invention according to the claims, and all combinations of features described in the embodiments are not necessarily essential to the solution means of the present invention. . The same constituent elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a job input device that functions as a job management device and a printing device that functions as a print control device (or job processing device) that performs processing of a print job according to an embodiment of the present invention. . The printing apparatus 10 is connected to the job input apparatus 11 via an external network. When the job input device 11 receives a print instruction for an image, a document, a content, or the like from a PC (not shown), an information terminal device, or a server connected via a network, the job input device 11 performs a print job with the print device 10. Start the state management process. In the printing apparatus 10, the CPU 101 is a central processing unit that controls the entire printing apparatus 10 in accordance with a control procedure program stored in the ROM 102. The RAM 103 is used as a work area of the CPU 101 and a memory area for storing data received by the I / F unit 105. The nonvolatile memory 104 stores job identification information, which is information unique to each job included in the unprocessed job list, and job result information such as normal end and error end. The job identification information and job result information are used to determine the job processing state when the printing apparatus 10 is turned on. The I / F unit 105 receives an unprocessed job list and job data input from the job input device 11 connected to the printing device, and notifies the job input device 11 of a job processing status. The operation unit 106 includes a display unit and an input unit, and can display that a job has ended in error due to a power interruption or the like, or can accept an unprocessed job list acquisition instruction from a user. The print engine control unit 107 is a printing mechanism unit for executing a printing process. When the printing apparatus 10 is an inkjet recording apparatus, the print engine control unit 107 corresponds to a recording head scanning control unit or the like. The system bus 108 connects the components so that they can communicate with each other.

  In the job input device 11, the CPU 111 is a central processing unit that controls the entire job input device 11 in accordance with a control procedure program stored in the ROM 112. For example, the CPU 111 creates an unprocessed job list and sends a transmission instruction, generates and sends a job, and updates the job processing state. The RAM 113 is used as a work area for the CPU 111 and a memory area for storing data received by the I / F unit 114. In addition, the generated job data is stored in association with the processing state and location of the job. The I / F unit 114 receives print instructions for images, documents, contents, and the like from a PC, an information terminal device, or a server (not shown) connected via a network. Further, in response to a request from the printing apparatus 10, a job list and job data are transmitted. The printing apparatus 10 can notify the change of the job processing state, and the job input apparatus 11 receives the notification from the printing apparatus 10. The system bus 115 connects the components so that they can communicate with each other.

  In this embodiment, the job input device 11 can also manage the job processing state by notifying the job input device 11 of the job processing state at the start and end of job printing. it can. In the present embodiment, the job processing states managed by the job input device 11 are four types of “unprocessed”, “processing in progress”, “completed”, and “error”. When the processing state becomes “complete” or “error”, the job input device 11 deletes the corresponding job from the RAM 113. Further, the printing apparatus 10 and the job input apparatus 11 manage the job processing state by storing them in a storage area so that each processing state can be identified as a flag in association with the job ID, for example. .

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a procedure of print processing including job management in the present embodiment. The processing shown in FIG. 2 is executed by the CPU 101 in the printing apparatus 10 and is executed by the CPU 111 in the job input apparatus 11. In FIG. 2, S201 to S211 are processes performed by the printing apparatus 10, and S212 to S216 are processes performed by the job input apparatus 11.

  The processing of the printing apparatus 10 in FIG. 2 may be started by receiving a notification from the job input apparatus 11 that an unprocessed job list has been added. Alternatively, it may be started by inquiring about job list acquisition from the job input device 11 periodically from the printing device 10. Alternatively, the processing may be started by receiving an unprocessed job list acquisition instruction from the user at the input unit of the operation unit 106. Here, the unprocessed job list (unprocessed job list) refers to the job identification information and the actual data location (for the jobs whose processing status is “unprocessed” among the jobs stored in the job input device 11 ( URL or link) is a list.

  In step S201, the printing apparatus requests an unprocessed job list. In step S212, the job input apparatus 11 that has received the request creates a table that associates job identification information of a job whose job processing status is “unprocessed” with the location of the actual data. In step S213, the job input apparatus 11 stores the table. Send. When the printing apparatus 10 acquires an unprocessed job list from the job input apparatus 11 in S202, it is determined in S203 whether or not at least one job exists in the job list.

  If it is determined that there is at least one job in the list, the actual job data is requested to the job input device 11 in S204, and the job input device 11 is designated in S214 in response to the request. The actual job data is transmitted to the printing apparatus 10. In step S205, the printing apparatus 10 acquires actual job data. When requesting and acquiring a job, the printing apparatus 10 may select one job to be printed from the job list acquired in S202, and acquire the job by accessing the location of the actual data of the job. good. Alternatively, after notifying the job input apparatus 11 of job identification information of a desired job, actual data of the job corresponding to the notified job identification information may be acquired as a response to the notification. In the following, for simplification of description, a job that has acquired actual data is described as job A.

  In step S <b> 206, the printing apparatus 10 stores the job identification information of the job A in the nonvolatile memory 104 after acquiring the actual data of the job A. In step S <b> 207, the printing apparatus 10 performs a job processing state notification that notifies the job input device 11 that the job processing state has been changed to “processing” together with the job identification information notification of job A. As a result, the job input apparatus 11 is notified that the printing process for job A has started. In step S <b> 215, the job input device 11 receives the notification from the printing device 10, and changes the processing state of job A managed in the ROM 112 or the like from “unprocessed” to “processing”. In step S <b> 208, the printing apparatus 10 executes a printing process based on the job A, and stores the job result information in the nonvolatile memory 104 when the printing process ends in step S <b> 209. Here, the job result information is information indicating whether the printing has ended normally or has ended abnormally due to detection of an error or illegal data in the printing apparatus 10.

  In step S <b> 210, the printing apparatus 10 notifies the job input apparatus 11 that the job processing state has been changed to “completed” or “error”, and notifies the job identification information of job A. Do with. Here, whether “completion” or “error” is to be notified may be determined from the print execution result in S208 or determined with reference to the job result information stored in the nonvolatile memory 104 in S209. You may do it. In the case of notifying the job input device 11 of “error”, it may be notified together with information on the error factor. For example, a paper jam of the printing apparatus 10 is notified as an error factor. Through the process of S210, the job input apparatus is notified that the printing of job A has been completed.

  In step S <b> 216, the job input device 11 changes the processing state of the job A managed by the ROM 112 from “processing” to “completed” or “error”. By receiving the notification from the printing apparatus 10, the job input apparatus 11 can abandon information on the job A, for example. In step S <b> 211, the printing apparatus 10 deletes the job identification information and the job result information related to the job A from the nonvolatile memory 104 because all the printing processes related to the job A are completed.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the printing apparatus 10 records the job identification information and job result information in the nonvolatile memory 104 and deletes them from the nonvolatile memory 104. With such a configuration, it can be seen from the stored contents of the non-volatile memory 104 that the printing apparatus 10 has been powered off at which timing of the processing shown in FIG. For example, if the job identification information remains in the non-volatile memory 104 when the printing apparatus 10 is turned on, it can be understood that the power is cut off during the job printing process. Further, by storing the job identification information, the same job A can be acquired again when the power is turned on, and reprinting can be performed. Further, when the job result information remains in the nonvolatile memory 104 when the power is turned on, it can be understood that the power is cut off after the job print processing is completed until the job processing is completed. That is, since the timing of power-off of the printing apparatus 10 can be known, the job processing state notification status to the job input apparatus 11 at that time can also be known. Therefore, the printing apparatus 10 can match the job processing status between the printing apparatus 10 and the job input apparatus 11 by performing an appropriate notification to the job input apparatus 11 after returning from the power shutdown. it can.

  Hereinafter, the determination of the job processing state will be described with reference to FIG. 3, and the processing performed by the printing apparatus 10 corresponding to each determined state will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of job processing state determination processing performed by the CPU 101 when the printing apparatus 10 returns from power-off (when power is turned on). When the printing apparatus 10 is turned on, first, in step S <b> 301, the CPU 101 determines whether job identification information is stored in the nonvolatile memory 104. Here, when it is determined that the job identification information is not stored, the CPU 101 determines that the timing when the printing apparatus 10 is turned off is before the job identification information storage processing S206 or the job identification information and the job result information. Is determined to be after the erasing process S211. In that case, the CPU 101 ends the processing in FIG. 3 without determining the job processing state.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the job identification information is stored, the process proceeds to S302, and the job processing state of the job A processed at the time of power-off in the subsequent processing is determined. In step S <b> 302, the CPU 101 requests the job input apparatus 11 for an unprocessed job list. In step S303, the CPU 101 acquires an unprocessed job list. In step S304, the CPU 101 determines whether the job identification information of the job A stored in the nonvolatile memory 104 is included in the job list. judge. Here, if it is determined that the job is included, it can be said that the status of the job A managed by the job input device 11 remains “unprocessed”. That is, it is found that the job processing status notification S207 has not been performed from the printing apparatus 10 to the job input apparatus 11. Therefore, the CPU 101 is the time when the power is shut off until the job processing state notification S207 for storing the job identification information in the nonvolatile memory 104 and changing the job processing state to “processing” is performed. Is determined. Hereinafter, the determination result is referred to as “state 1”.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in S304 that the acquired unprocessed job list does not include the job identification information of job A stored in the nonvolatile memory 104, the CPU 101 determines in S305 that the job It is determined whether or not the result information is stored in the nonvolatile memory 104. If it is determined that the job result information is not stored, the CPU 101 can say that the timing when the power is turned off is before the process S209 for storing the job result information. Therefore, the CPU 101 determines that the power-off timing is from when the job processing state notification for changing the job processing state to “processing” is performed until the job result information is stored. Hereinafter, the determination result is referred to as “state 2”. If it is determined in step S305 that the job result information is stored in the non-volatile memory 104, the CPU 101 stores the job shut-off timing in the non-volatile memory 104 and the job identification information after storing the job result information in the non-volatile memory 104. And job result information are determined to be deleted. Hereinafter, the determination result is referred to as “state 3”.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of processing corresponding to the determination result of “state 1” in FIG. 3 when the printing apparatus 10 is returned from power shutdown. Hereinafter, the processing illustrated in FIGS. 4 to 6 is executed by the CPU 101 of the printing apparatus 10, for example. If it is determined as “status 1”, the printing apparatus 10 is unprocessed and the power of the printing apparatus 10 is cut off. Therefore, the printing apparatus 10 re-prints by acquiring the job A again. . First, in step S <b> 401, the CPU 101 reacquires job A from the job input device 11. Here, after notifying the job input apparatus 11 of the job identification information of the job A stored in the nonvolatile memory 104, the CPU 101 may acquire the actual data of the job A as a response to the notification. In step S402, the CPU 101 deletes the job identification information and job result information from the nonvolatile memory 104, and performs reprinting based on the job A in step S403. Here, as a reprinting method, S206 to S211 in FIG. 2 may be performed again. In the present embodiment, the process of S402 is performed before the process of S403 in order to newly store job identification information and job result information at the time of reprinting. As described above, when it is determined that the timing when the power is shut off is “state 1”, the job is received again and reprinted when the power is shut off.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of processing corresponding to the determination result of “state 2” in FIG. 3 when the printing apparatus 10 is returned from power shutdown. In FIG. 5, at the time of recovery from power shutdown, a job processing status notification to the job input device 11 for changing the job processing status to “error” and an error notification to the user are performed. When it is determined as “state 2”, the power of the printing apparatus 10 is cut off during the printing process of the job A. Therefore, the printing apparatus 10 supplies the job A to the job input apparatus 11 and the user. Notify that the process ended with an error due to blocking. This is because if this notification is not performed, the job input device 11 cannot change the processing state of the job A from “processing”, and as a result, information regarding the job A cannot be discarded. Also, the user of the printing apparatus 10 may not be able to recognize that printing has been completed from the printed material when returning from power shutdown, so it is necessary to display an error completion on the printing apparatus 10 as well. In step S <b> 501, the CPU 101 notifies the job input apparatus 11 of a job processing state for changing the processing state of job A to “error”. In step S <b> 502, the CPU 101 notifies the user of the printing apparatus 10 of an error by performing display control so that the job A has ended in error on the display unit of the operation unit 106. Thereafter, in step S <b> 503, the CPU 101 deletes the job identification information and the job result information from the nonvolatile memory 104. Note that when an error notification is sent to the job input device 11, it may be notified together with information on an error factor indicating that the error has ended due to a power shutdown. As described above, when it is determined that the timing when the power is shut off is “state 2”, an error notification is given to the job input device 11 and the user when the power is shut off. As a result, it is possible to match the managed job processing state between the printing apparatus 10 and the job input apparatus 11.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of processing corresponding to the determination result of “state 3” in FIG. 3 when the printing apparatus 10 is returned from power shutdown. In FIG. 6, at the time of recovery from power shutdown, a job processing status notification for changing the job processing status to “error” or “completed” is sent to the job input device 11. At this time, when notifying “error”, the printing apparatus 10 also performs error notification to the user. When it is determined as “state 3”, the power of the job A is shut off after the printing is completed. In this embodiment, regardless of whether the power-off timing is before or after the job processing status notification S210 at the end of printing, the job processing status notification is sent to the job input device 11. Even if the power is shut off after the job processing status notification, the job processing status notification is sent to the job input device 11 again so that the job managed by the job input device 11 can be surely managed. This is because it can be matched with the processing state.

  In step S <b> 601, the CPU 101 refers to the job result information stored in the non-volatile memory 104 and determines whether the printing process is normally completed. If it is determined that the job has ended normally, in step S <b> 602, the CPU 101 notifies the job input device 11 of a job processing status for changing the processing status of job A to “completed”. On the other hand, if it is determined that the processing has not ended normally, in step S <b> 603, the CPU 101 notifies the job input apparatus 11 of a job processing state for changing the processing state of job A to “error”. In step S604 after the processing in step S603, the CPU 101 notifies the user of the printing apparatus 10 of an error by displaying on the operation unit 106 that the job A has ended in error. In step S <b> 605, the CPU 101 deletes the job identification information and job result information from the nonvolatile memory 104. As described above, when it is determined that the timing when the power is shut down is “state 3”, the job input device 11 is informed about whether “complete” or “error” when returning from the power shutdown. Processing status notification is performed. Further, when the job processing status notification of “error” is sent to the job input device 11, an error is also displayed to the user. As a result, it is possible to match the managed job processing state between the printing apparatus 10 and the job input apparatus 11. The three processes described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6 may be any one of the three processes or any two processes.

  In the above example, the printing apparatus 10 notifies the job input apparatus 11 of job result information. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the printing apparatus 10 may be connected to a network via a PC, and the PC may specify a processing result by the printing apparatus 10 and notify the job input apparatus 11 of the result. In this case, this PC functions as a print control apparatus. In the above example, the job submission device 11 that submits a job to the printing apparatus 10 also manages the job processing status. However, the management that manages the job status separately from the job submission device. An apparatus may be provided to notify the management apparatus of job result information.

  In the above example, the power interruption is exemplified as the state where the job result information cannot be notified (communication impossible). However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be caused by other causes such as a communication error. Further, the job related to the notification of the processing result may be a job other than a print job (for example, a job that performs a predetermined process on a specified image and stores it in a predetermined memory). In this case, the job processing apparatus that has processed the job specifies the job processing result and transmits it to the job management apparatus.

  The present invention is also realized by executing the following processing. That is, software (program) that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus via a network or various storage media, and a computer (or CPU, MPU, or the like) of the system or apparatus reads the program. It is a process to be executed. In addition, the above processing is not limited to being executed by a single processor, but may be executed by a plurality of processors. Further, not all of the processing is realized by software, but part or all of the processing may be realized by hardware such as ASIC.

Claims (8)

A job processing apparatus that can process a job received from the outside and notify the job management apparatus of the processing result of the job,
Storage means for storing the processing result of the job in a memory;
Notification means for notifying the job management apparatus of the processing result of the job stored in the memory by the storage means;
A determination unit that determines whether there is a processing result of a job that has not been notified by the notification unit when the communication with the job management apparatus has changed from a state in which communication with the job management apparatus is disabled to a state in which communication is possible;
Control means for reading the processing result from the memory and notifying the job management apparatus by the notifying means when it is determined by the determining means that there is a processing result of a job not notified by the notifying means;
A job processing apparatus comprising:   The job processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the communication disabled state is a power shutdown.   The job processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the job is a print job, and the notification unit notifies a result of printing by the printing apparatus. Obtaining means for obtaining a list of unprocessed jobs from the job management device;
The job according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the determination unit specifies a job that has not been notified by the notification unit based on the unprocessed job list acquired by the acquisition unit. Processing equipment.   5. The job processing apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising request means for requesting transmission of an unprocessed job based on an unprocessed job list acquired by the acquisition means.   The job processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the memory is a nonvolatile memory. A job management method for managing a job processed in a job processing apparatus in a job management apparatus,
The job processing device includes:
A storing step of storing the processing result of the job in a memory;
A notification step of notifying the job management apparatus of the processing result stored in the memory;
A determination step of determining whether there is a processing result of a job that has not been notified when the communication with the job management apparatus is changed from a state where communication with the job management apparatus is disabled to a state where communication is possible;
A notification step of notifying the job management apparatus of the processing result when it is determined that there is a processing result of a job that has not been notified;
The job management device includes:
A management step of managing the processing result of the job based on a notification from the job processing device,
A job management method characterized by the above.   A program that causes a computer to function as each unit of the job processing apparatus according to claim 1.

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